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The Blue Dragon by Yiola Damianou-Papadopoulou starts on a typical day in Sri Lanka: the fishermen leave for their daily trip; little children play together along the shoreline; while a party of other children is preparing to depart on a school excursion. However, without warning, something resembling a huge mythical beast emerges from the depths of the ocean, its enormous hands spread high into the sky, and its huge ferocious mouth open wide, engulfing everything in its path. Nothing is spared.

The Blue Dragon describes the terror of the catastrophic tsunami that hit Sri Lanka in December 2004. The novel focuses on a group of children—Hanseni, and her siblings Awade and Manori, and their friend Nishian—their individual experiences, and how they managed to pull through this horrendous event. Overcoming their fears the children struggle against the forces of nature, fighting against the odds to save themselves and their friends.

Their stories portray courage and hope, and demonstrate the inner strength and determination that exists in the human spirit when faced with an unforgiving natural disaster.

This emotive and heartfelt story shows how even, in the most terrifying of circumstances, the will to live triumphs.

Chapter 5: An Excursion

The coach was making its way, belching black exhaust. It went slowly, making short stops so that the children could admire the beautiful scenery along the way. No one was in any great hurry. They went through green tea and coffee plantations; through tiny villages where the inhabitants, barely awake, were setting off to their jobs. The children, in a fever of enthusiasm with their new found sense of adventure, excitedly danced and sang on the bus. Such excursions were rare. Without their families, they were going to experience a new freedom that would last two days!

Yiola Damianou-Papadopoulou was born in Nicosia and spent her childhood in the Congo and Nigeria. She studied Journalism in Athens and has worked with a number of radio stations, magazines and newspapers in Cyprus.

She has published short stories for adults, Batoure and African Moments, as well as novels: The Forest’s Whisper, which won the Cyprus State Award 1992; Our Heart’s Journeys; A Life’ s Destiny; My other Half; Hold on through your Dreams, This is how I want to remember; and The Slow Dance.

She has also written children’s and young adult fiction, including: All the Children of the World, which won the National Press Award (Press and Information Office) 2007; Through the Moonlight, The Blue Dragon; Walk with the Moon; and Gaby’ s Kidnapping, which won the Cyprus State Award for Children’ s Literature 2011.

Her short stories have won various distinctions such as: First Prize in the European Contest of the Eleven Municipalities of Val di Nievole, Italy; third Prize in the Noumas Contest; and a distinction in the Panhellenic Contest of the Municipality of Petroupolis.